| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Presented by American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation | So, about that email headline…. April Fool's! As far as I know, anyway. Onto the news. Congressional candidate Ian Smith says he wasn't drunk last weekend when a cop pulled him over and charged him with a DUI and a slew of traffic offenses. But had Smith — who refused to take a Breathalyzer test — consumed alcohol that night? The campaign of Smith's Republican primary opponent, Bob Healey, believes so. "The police should release the body cam footage - and the Central Taco in Haddonfield, where we've been told Ian was drinking margaritas at a birthday party on Saturday night, should release their security footage, too," Healey campaign manager Theresa Furmato Velardi said Tuesday in a little-noticed tweet. I asked Smith's campaign consultant, Steve Kush, whether Smith had any drinks the night he was pulled over. Here's his statement: "With a lawyer involved I can only say so much, but what I can tell you is that I looked Ian in his eyes and asked him, not as a consultant, but as a father and a grandfather, if he was driving drunk. He told me, 'No.' I believe him. Ian will have his day in court and I believe he will be vindicated." That's not a denial. Remember: This is not just some run-of-the-mill candidate DUI. As a 20-year-old college student, Smith woke up after a night of drinking, got in his car to go to work, blew a stop sign and killed 19-year-old Kevin Ade. He pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and served prison time. In May 2020, addressing that 2007 accident, Smith said "When I woke up that morning, I had no idea there was still alcohol in my system." By Smith's own account, on that fateful day in 2007, he wasn't a good judge of his own level of intoxication. If he did consume alcohol before he was pulled over, can we really trust his judgment that he was sober? DAYS SINCE MURPHY REFUSED TO SAY WHETHER HIS WIFE'S NON-PROFIT SHOULD DISCLOSE DONORS: 45 WHERE'S MURPHY? No public schedule QUOTE OF THE DAY: "I was the first one to get on Facebook and say 'innocent till proven guilty.' … And come Monday, there was a story in the newspaper. And that story said that (Kennedy) admitted to doing what he was charged with. I spoke with the chief of police. ... I couldn't believe it. I got on the phone with the chief of police and I said, 'Chief?' And, uh, basically he said all the elements of that story are correct. So, at that point, my 'innocence until proven guilty' went out the door." — Ocean Gate Council President Dave Kendrick on Mayor Paul J. Kennedy, who's charged with theft and official misconduct. They voted to knock his salary down to $1 and stripped him of supplemental duties and municipal jobs. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Hackensack Meridian's Kenneth Esser, HACR's Cid Wilson. Saturday for Assemblymember Linda Carter, DEP's Bryana De Veaux, Optimus Partners' David Vitali, Environment NJ's Doug O'Malley, MBI's Michelle Jaker, Princeton's Brent Colburn. Sunday for municipal clerk Everett Falt TIPS? FEEDBACK? HATE MAIL? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com
| | | | A message from American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation: No worker should have to choose between their health and a paycheck, but that's exactly what a loophole in state law forces Atlantic City casino employees to do every day. It's past time to eliminate the casino smoking loophole by passing S264/A2151, bipartisan bills supported by legislators across the state and which Gov. Murphy says he'll sign. Learn why thousands of casino employees are speaking out on this life and death matter. | | | |  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | |
THE VIRUS THAT NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION — Murphy tests positive for Covid-19, by POLITICO's Daniel Han: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tested positive for Covid-19 Thursday afternoon, but is "asymptomatic and feeling well," his office announced. Murphy initially received the positive test via a rapid antigen test and then tested positive after a subsequent PCR test, spokesperson Mahen Gunaratna said in a statement. "The contact tracing process has begun to notify everyone who may have come into contact with the Governor during the potential infection window," Gunaratna said in the statement. "Per CDC guidance, the Governor will cancel in-person events, isolate for the next five days, and continue to monitor for symptoms before taking an additional PCR test."
UPGRADE — New Jersey gets its second credit upgrade in a month, by POLITICO's Katherine Landergan: New Jersey received its second credit upgrade in less than a month on Thursday, this time from S&P Global ratings. S&P raised its rating on the state's general obligation bonds from "BBB+" to "A-." S&P cited "material improvement in the state's structural deficit and near term liquidity, with recent surplus revenues being used to promote what we view as longer-term financial stability and an improved commitment to prefunding liabilities." S&P's credit rating upgrades come on the heels of Moody's recent credit rating upgrade. The state had been given a series of downgrades under former Gov. Chris Christie because of poor budgeting practices and a woefully underfunded pension system. New Jersey has had one of the worst credit ratings of any state. — Task force begins studying management of New Jersey's forests, by POLITICO's Ry Rivard : The New Jersey Forest Stewardship Task Force is ready to begin nine months of meetings that could reshape how the state's forests are managed. The task force, created last month by Senate Environment and Energy Committee Chair Bob Smith (D-Middlesex), announced it will hold its first meeting April 28. The group's charge is to study the use of the state's forests and make recommendations for new laws to help manage them. So far, more than 1,000 people have expressed some interest in the task force's work. HOW ABOUT INSTEAD FLORIDA JUST GIVES US THEIR PUBLIC RECORDS LAWS? — Florida gun retailer ordered to pay New Jersey $175K, by POLITICO's Jonathan Custodio: Acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Thursday that a Florida-based gun retailer has been ordered to pay New Jersey more than $175,000 for advertising and selling illegal, large capacity ammunition magazines to customers in New Jersey. The company, 22Mods4All Inc., has also been permanently prohibited from advertising and selling large capacity magazines to New Jersey consumers, according to a release from Platkin's office. —NYT: " Pump your own gas? No thanks, say New Jerseyans" —Sweeney policy center to examine multi-year budgeting —"N.J. plastic bag ban: Garbage, produce, pet waste bags still OK when new law starts" —" Better South Jersey bus service needed for Philly commute, and in rural areas, riders tell NJ Transit" —Mulshine: "State's Energy Master Plan is priceless - but not in a good way " —Mehrotra: "Searching for the next Loretta Weinberg"
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IT MIGHT HURT KIDS AND ADDRESSES A PROBLEM THAT BARELY EXISTS, BUT IT SURE RILES UP THAT BASE — "'What's to stop them from coming for me?': Anti-trans bills outside NJ impact local youth ," by The Courier-Post's Aedy Miller: "Since the beginning of 2022, lawmakers in 34 states — including New Jersey — have introduced legislation that activists say target transgender and non-binary people for discrimination … trans students here aren't spared from the rhetoric their peers are facing around the country. In January, New Jersey state Republican lawmakers reintroduced legislation from the previous session that would also see trans girls banned from girl's school athletics. 'This clearly is a complex issue and we don't want to hurt anyone,' Sen. James Holzapfel and Assemblymen John Catalano and Gregory McGuckin, who are sponsors of the bill, said in an email … A USA Today investigation found that roughly 30 trans athletes competed in high school sports during the 2020-21 academic year in the 14 states that recorded such data. It also found that just two high school athletic associations — one in Texas and one in Hawaii — had received complaints … since 2016 … While the bills are unlikely to make it out of the Democrat-controlled Senate and Assembly education committees, their introduction here and elsewhere still sends a message to trans and non-binary kids in the state, trans youth and activists say. At best, bills like these help normalize homophobia and transphobia; at worst, they can lead to the death of queer youth, said Cole, a trans man and senior at Atlantic City High School."
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE INFORM KEVIN ADE'S FAMILY THAT IAN SMITH IS BEING 'PERSECUTED'? "Ian Smith hasn't learned his lesson, says family of young man he killed in DWI," by NJ 101.5's Dan Alexaner "When Ian Smith shows you who he is, believe him the first time. That's the message from his victim's family, still raw more than a decade after Smith — now a conservative hero and candidate — killed college student Kevin Ade in a drunk driving crash. Smith made headlines this week after he was arrested in a new drunk-driving case in Cinnaminson early Sunday morning … 'I can't say it's very surprising. Last time when everything was coming to light, in my family's mind, he didn't really accept any responsibility for [what] had happened in the past to Kevin that he did,' Ade's cousin, Jimmy Connelly, told New Jersey 101.5 on Thursday … Connelly, however, said that if Smith were innocent he would have had no problem submitting to a breathalyzer test and thinks it's 'preposterous' that police would tamper with the test … 'It's quite clear he was up to no good. He was trying to hide something. Thankfully his ignorance of the law — which he had plenty of time to study up on with that free law library for a few years — came through,' Connelly said referring to the time Smith spent incarcerated. … Connelly said he hopes the arrest will reveal the real Smith, especially to Republican voters in the 3rd Congressional District. He believes that most of Smith's support comes from people outside the district and who are unaware of Smith's past. 'Hopefully people will see now that he's not who he says he is. He doesn't deserve, at least in my mind, to run for any type of public position and have the support of people who aren't from this area and don't know the news. They just see what the national news media has regurgitated about him being a martyr and someone standing up for our rights,' Connelly said." —Snowflack: " For Smith, actual campaign issues take a back seat" —"Senate confirms Castner as federal judge" —"Teacher shortage is 'big priority,' says US education deputy secretary during NJ visit" —" N.J. congressman [Van Drew] who quit Twitter after Trump impeachment vote is tweeting again. Here's why"
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A 2025 GUBERNATORIAL FRONTRUNNER EMERGES — "N.J. town to drop lawsuit against woman, 82, who it claimed filed 'voluminous' public records requests," by NJ Advance Media's Steven Rodas: "The past week has been a whirlwind for Elouise McDaniel, an 82-year-old Irvington resident sued by the township for various reasons, including filing over 75 requests to the township for information within three years via New Jersey's Open Public Records Act. On Thursday evening, she learned the township's intentions to drop the lawsuit — just a day after McDaniel had secured an attorney. 'We look forward to Irvington dismissing this case, but it shouldn't have taken national press coverage and the ACLU stepping in for them to back down,' McDaniel's attorney, CJ Griffin, who took the case on pro-bono Wednesday, said in a statement sent to NJ Advance Media."
NO SAL-VATION — "Calls erupt for N.J. mayor's resignation, state takeover after racist recordings aired," by NJ Advance Media's Riley Yates and S.P. Sullivan: "When Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp listened Wednesday to the recordings of a man going on racist tirades against Black people, he said he recognized the voice immediately. 'Absolutely, no question,' Mapp said. That voice was that of six-term Clark Township Mayor Sal Bonaccorso, one of three township officials a whistleblower secretly recorded allegedly using racial slurs that included 'spooks,' 'shines,' and the N-word. Bonaccorso also allegedly criticized women in law enforcement, calling them 'all [expletive] disasters' … An NJ Advance Media investigation published Wednesday found Clark officials quietly paid the whistleblower and his attorney $400,000 to keep a lid on the explosive recordings, which allegedly captured Police Chief Pedro Matos and an internal affairs sergeant using racial slurs as well. And Mapp may be just one of growing chorus of officials to condemn the remarks and Clark's handling of the controversy. On Thursday, those included Gov. Phil Murphy.'" REACHED FOR COMMENT, THE NEW OFFICER IN CHARGE JUST REPEATEDLY SAID 'FODOR!' — " Prosecutor's office assumes management of South Bound Brook Police Department," by MyCentralJersey's Mike Deak: "The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office has assumed management of the borough police department because of an ongoing personnel matter involving Chief Rick Fittin. John Fodor, chief of detectives in the prosecutor's office, was appointed the department's officer in charge at an emergency borough council meeting on Tuesday. Fittin was sworn in as chief in January. Details of the personnel matter are not available. Acting Prosecutor Thomas Chirichella stated that under the direction of Fodor, the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office will assign senior staffers to conduct a 'comprehensive evaluation' of the South Bound Brook Police Department." MORRIS DEMS CHUCK CORREA — "Morris Democrats label Dover alderman a 'self-styled king', pull primary endorsement," by The Daily Record's William Westhoven: "Four years after backing a grassroots group that deposed controversial former Dover Mayor Jame Dodd, the Morris County Democratic Committee is publicly breaking ranks with one member of that group, Alderman Ed Correa, saying he 'has lost the support of the movement he helped build.' In a scathing statement issued Tuesday, Chairman Chip Robinson wrote the committee's support of the 2018 Dover First slate 'was not to trade one self-styled king for another.'" — " How did Camden preschoolers drink contaminated milk? Here's what we know," by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Melanie Burney: "The Camden City School District has stopped serving milk to all its students after at least 53 children in four schools were medically treated Wednesday after consuming milk contaminated with a hand sanitizer. After drinking the milk — distributed at the Camden Early Childhood Development Center, the Riletta T. Cream Early Childhood Development Center, the Yorkship Family School, and the Veterans Memorial School — the children, who ranged in age from 3 to 5 years old, were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and Cooper University Hospital, or treated on site. The students and one staff member were treated and released, with primary symptoms being vomitin … Guida's Dairy believes the contamination was limited and was caused when the food-grade sanitizer, used to clean the cartons, was inadvertently introduced into machines during milk production SELLING CELLS LEADS TO CELL — "Ex-housing authority director admits stealing nearly $600K," by NJ Advance Medila's Jeff Goldman: "A former director at the federally funded Newark Housing Authority admitted he stole almost $600,000 by selling cell phones and tablets he bought with the agency's money. Venancio Diaz, 56, of Jersey City, faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to theft from an agency receiving federal funds, the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey said Thursday." WALL OF SHAME — " Wall football players admit to hazing charges, have sexual contact charges dropped," by NJ Advance Media's Steve Strunsky and Joe Atmonovage: "Several Wall High School football players charged with hazing and sex offenses related to locker room attacks last fall have entered into plea agreements that drop the most serious charges of sexual contact and ultimately could clear their names entirely, NJ Advance Media has learned. At least five of the seven players charged in November agreed in separate proceedings this month to plead guilty to juvenile charges of hazing and harassment. Under the terms of those deals, the charges of criminal sexual contact and false imprisonment are immediately dismissed, according to two sources familiar with the matter who asked not to be named due to its confidential nature." — "Pitman signals stop on passenger rail project, officials narrowly vote to oppose it" —" Brick informs Ocean County that 2020 and 2021 video of ballot drop box is 'lost'" —" Hillsborough school board waiting for prosecutor's 'thumbs up' to release audit results" —"From making loans to seeking them, Chase exec to head Newark's economic development agency" —"Women lag in municipal office in N.J., study finds" —" Opinion: Suleiman on redistricting" —"[Gloucester] County paid $165K to settle detective's sex discrimination lawsuit" —"3rd cop files lawsuit again [Palisades Park], alleging harassment for investigating captain" —" Epic battle In Morris Township between Mancuso and Grayzel"
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SPADEA: HUNTER BIDEN INJECTED THE BULL WITH THE VACCINE CAUSING IT TO SEXUALLY IDENTIFY WITH MAIL BOX. AND IT'S HALAL — NJ 101.5: "Watch: Adorable baby bull fights a mailbox in Stafford, NJ"
—"Environmental groups demand that MSU reveal building plans for Stokes State Forest" —" It's time to get rid of police street crime units in New Jersey | Opinion"
| | | | A message from American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation: No worker in New Jersey should have to choose between their health and a paycheck, but that's exactly what a loophole in state law forces Atlantic City casino employees to do every day. It's past time to eliminate the casino smoking loophole by passing S264/A2151, bipartisan bills supported by legislators across the state and which Gov. Murphy says he'll sign. New Jersey should not allow any worker to be subjected to known carcinogens. Atlantic City casinos have been setting revenue records and operating with the fewest employees in years. Now is the time to protect casino employees' health. Just like restaurants adapted and thrived 16 years ago, casinos will do the same—and going smokefree can be a win-win, as several Pennsylvania casinos have voluntarily gotten rid of smoking and are setting revenue records. Learn why thousands of casino employees are speaking out on this life and death matter. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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